Spain is a country in the Iberian Peninsula with an area of 505,992 sq km and a population of around 47,129,783 inhabitants (93.9 per sq km). It also comprises the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in the north of Africa, and the Canary and Balearic Islands. Apart from Spanish, three (or four) dialects are spoken in Spain: Basque, Galician and Catalan (which is sometimes considered as a different dialect, Valencian, in the Community of Valencia). The capital city of Spain is Madrid. Spain's government is a Parliamentary Monarchy -- Juan Carlos I is the king, and Mariano Rajoy is the President of the Government.
Don Carlos (Carlos, Prince of Asturias)
Biography
Birth and childhood
Don Carlos was born on the 8th of July, 1545, in Valladolid, Spain. He was the son of Philip II of Spain and María Manuela of Portugal. His mother died four days after bearing him (when she was only seventeen years old) because she had no professional midwife to assist her. Since the very day of his birth, it was seen that Don Carlos was not a regular child; he was hunchbacked, pigeon-breasted, his shoulders had an uneven height and his right leg was quite longer than the left one. It was also found out that he had a slow mental development and a rather aggresive behaviour. These physical and psychological problems might have come from family -- his direct ancestors were all family-related, and so it wouldn't be surprising that some of these problems came from those incestuous marriages.
Don Carlos as a little kid.
Growing up, Don Carlos was found to be really strange. Even as a kid, he started biting on the breasts of his wet-nurses, an early sign of his violence. At age five, he learnt to speak, but he stuttered and spoke in a high-pitched, girly voice. He was feverish and prone to illness, and he got very aggresive. When he was nine, he started torturing animals and servants, and liked whipping girls. It is said that he once bit off the head of a snake. He enjoyed eating too, often in great quantities.
Possible marriage alliances
Despite many marriages were proposed to him, Don Carlos never really had a wife. In May 1556, just a year after his grandfather Charles V abdicated and was succeeded by his father, Philip II, there were plans to marry Carlos and his cousin, the Archduchess Anna. Mary I, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I of England were both other possible brides, along with Elisabeth of France, who ended up marrying his own father.
Archduchess Anna of Austria, Don Carlos' cousin.
Mary, Queen of Scots.
Queen Elizabeth I.
Elisabeth of France (Isasbel of Bourbon).
An unfortunate accident
In the year 1562, Don Carlos suffered a grave accident that would affect him later on. Perhaps in pursuit of one of the many women he liked, he stumbled down some stairs, causing a gaping wound on his head. He was put to bed, but no treatment could cure his swollen head and temporary loss of sight. Some Franciscan monks had the idea to use a religious relic to cure him. The corpse of saint Fray Diego, who had died around a century ago, was put in the bed next to the sick Prince. Surprisingly enough, Don Carlos got better quickly, though he would never be the same.
The fall had very negative effects on Don Carlos. What at first started as prolongued silences and strange questions gave rise to a violent, sadistic conduct with furious tantrums and rages. He attacked servants and sometimes officials of the Court. He once even tried to kill a cardinal with a dagger. These incidents started affecting his relationship with his father, who was now seemingly more hostile towards him. As his mental condition deteriorated, Don Carlos started secretly plotting against his own father. When Philip II found out, on January 1568, he decided his son would have to be imprisoned in the tower of the Arévalo castle, where his ancestor Isabel of Portugal had died in confinement.
"The dementia of Isabel of Portugal", by Pelegrí Clavé.
Castle of Arévalo.
On the last months of his life, Prince Carlos suffered from a serious fever. He used to pour barrels of icy water to the floor and then lie naked to cool off, but that only made his condition worse. When given the last sacrament, he even vomited over the priest. On July 24th, 1568, he died on mysterious conditions. Rumour had it that his father had poisoned him. His death was most probably caused by the fact that he had only eaten fruit for days, but that day he ate a huge spicy pie and washed it down with over 10 litres of water. Either way, the public was told that Don Carlos had "died of his own excesses" -- nothing far from the truth.
Table of Contents
Spain
Spain is a country in the Iberian Peninsula with an area of 505,992 sq km and a population of around 47,129,783 inhabitants (93.9 per sq km). It also comprises the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, in the north of Africa, and the Canary and Balearic Islands. Apart from Spanish, three (or four) dialects are spoken in Spain: Basque, Galician and Catalan (which is sometimes considered as a different dialect, Valencian, in the Community of Valencia). The capital city of Spain is Madrid. Spain's government is a Parliamentary Monarchy -- Juan Carlos I is the king, and Mariano Rajoy is the President of the Government.
Don Carlos (Carlos, Prince of Asturias)
Biography
Birth and childhood
Don Carlos was born on the 8th of July, 1545, in Valladolid, Spain. He was the son of Philip II of Spain and María Manuela of Portugal. His mother died four days after bearing him (when she was only seventeen years old) because she had no professional midwife to assist her. Since the very day of his birth, it was seen that Don Carlos was not a regular child; he was hunchbacked, pigeon-breasted, his shoulders had an uneven height and his right leg was quite longer than the left one. It was also found out that he had a slow mental development and a rather aggresive behaviour. These physical and psychological problems might have come from family -- his direct ancestors were all family-related, and so it wouldn't be surprising that some of these problems came from those incestuous marriages.Growing up, Don Carlos was found to be really strange. Even as a kid, he started biting on the breasts of his wet-nurses, an early sign of his violence. At age five, he learnt to speak, but he stuttered and spoke in a high-pitched, girly voice. He was feverish and prone to illness, and he got very aggresive. When he was nine, he started torturing animals and servants, and liked whipping girls. It is said that he once bit off the head of a snake. He enjoyed eating too, often in great quantities.
Possible marriage alliances
Despite many marriages were proposed to him, Don Carlos never really had a wife. In May 1556, just a year after his grandfather Charles V abdicated and was succeeded by his father, Philip II, there were plans to marry Carlos and his cousin, the Archduchess Anna. Mary I, Queen of Scots and Queen Elizabeth I of England were both other possible brides, along with Elisabeth of France, who ended up marrying his own father.An unfortunate accident
In the year 1562, Don Carlos suffered a grave accident that would affect him later on. Perhaps in pursuit of one of the many women he liked, he stumbled down some stairs, causing a gaping wound on his head. He was put to bed, but no treatment could cure his swollen head and temporary loss of sight. Some Franciscan monks had the idea to use a religious relic to cure him. The corpse of saint Fray Diego, who had died around a century ago, was put in the bed next to the sick Prince. Surprisingly enough, Don Carlos got better quickly, though he would never be the same.The fall had very negative effects on Don Carlos. What at first started as prolongued silences and strange questions gave rise to a violent, sadistic conduct with furious tantrums and rages. He attacked servants and sometimes officials of the Court. He once even tried to kill a cardinal with a dagger. These incidents started affecting his relationship with his father, who was now seemingly more hostile towards him. As his mental condition deteriorated, Don Carlos started secretly plotting against his own father. When Philip II found out, on January 1568, he decided his son would have to be imprisoned in the tower of the Arévalo castle, where his ancestor Isabel of Portugal had died in confinement.
On the last months of his life, Prince Carlos suffered from a serious fever. He used to pour barrels of icy water to the floor and then lie naked to cool off, but that only made his condition worse. When given the last sacrament, he even vomited over the priest. On July 24th, 1568, he died on mysterious conditions. Rumour had it that his father had poisoned him. His death was most probably caused by the fact that he had only eaten fruit for days, but that day he ate a huge spicy pie and washed it down with over 10 litres of water. Either way, the public was told that Don Carlos had "died of his own excesses" -- nothing far from the truth.
Newspaper article (interview)
Voki
Prezi
Dipity Timeline
Don Carlos, Prince of Asturias on Dipity.
Sources
Don Carlos' Wikipedia page
An interesting biography of Don Carlos
A shorter summarised biography